The Tempest Read Online Free PDF

half-line
) 13 guest = F.
Some
eds emend to
gift. 57 abstemious = F2. F = abstenious 67 vetches
spelled
Fetches
in
F 80 Her = Ed. F = here 119 SH CERES = Ed.
(no
change of singer in F)
134 wise = F.
Some eds emend to
wife 209 them on = Ed. F = on them
    5.1.18 run = F2. F = runs 77 Didst = F
(catchword on sig. B2v; text reads
Did)
87 lies = Ed. F = ly 118 Whether = Ed. F = Where 291 Coraggio … coraggio = F2. F =
Coragio … Corasio

SCENE-BY-SCENE ANALYSIS
ACT 1 SCENE 1
    The play opens dramatically on board a ship in the middle of a violent storm. It features two sets of characters: mariners and nobles. Social hierarchy is overturned as the sailors give the orders, telling the aristocrats to keep out of the way. Despite their best efforts though, by the end of the scene, all agree that they and the ship are lost. The scene is characterized by the peril of the situation and the vitality of the boatswain’s language. It opens the debate on issues of sovereignty, authority and legitimacy, character, fate, and predestination.
ACT 1 SCENE 2
    A long scene which introduces the inhabitants of the island and the relationships between them. It raises questions of personal claims to authority and sovereignty over the island as divergent accounts of individual histories are related.
    Lines 1–218: Reveals that the storm was not a product of nature but conjured up by Prospero. His daughter, Miranda, is distressed by the suffering of the victims but he reassures her that all are safe. Laying his magic cloak aside, he explains his real identity and how they came to the island. He is the rightful Duke of Milan and relates how twelve years ago with the support of the King of Naples, his brother Antonio usurped his dukedom. He and Miranda were set adrift in a small boat but survived thanks to one of the courtiers, Gonzalo, who took pity on them and furnished them with necessities for the voyage as well as Prospero’s books. He speaks with bitterness of his brother Antonio’s treachery, but by his own account, his neglect of civic duty in favor of private study played a role in encouraging his ambition. He goes on to explain his reason for raising this storm: his enemieswere all on board ship: Fortune has delivered them into his hands. To what extent is a providential, benign destiny at work in shaping the course of events?
    Lines 219–357: While Miranda sleeps, Ariel appears to do his master’s bidding. He describes how he performed and managed the tempest and has since dispersed the shipwrecked passengers around the island. Prospero has further tasks for him but Ariel reminds his master of his promise to restore his liberty. Prospero is enraged, reminding Ariel in turn of the debt of gratitude he owes. When he and Miranda arrived, the island was not deserted. Ariel had originally been servant to the witch Sycorax, herself banished to the island while pregnant with her son, Caliban. Because he refused to carry out her wicked commands, Sycorax had imprisoned Ariel for twelve years in a cloven pine, during which time she died. He suffered great pains until Prospero finally released him. Prospero threatens that he will imprison Ariel in an oak if he refuses to obey him, though he promises to discharge him in two days’ time. Ariel is now to turn himself into an invisible sea nymph.
    Lines 375–437: As Ariel departs, Prospero wakes Miranda, suggesting that they visit Caliban, now their slave. Miranda confesses her dislike of him but Prospero reminds her that they need him to perform all the menial tasks essential to their comfort and survival. The relationship between Prospero and Caliban is hostile and full of recriminations. Caliban curses him and Prospero responds with threats. Caliban relates his own version of Prospero’s arrival on the island. Initially a mutually beneficial relationship, Prospero taught him to speak his language and he willingly showed them “all the qualities o’th’isle.” He resents Prospero’s